Isis Pharmaceuticals announced the appointment of Paula Soteropoulos as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Akcea Therapeutics, the Isis-owned, lipid franchise subsidiary responsible for the development and commercialisation of Isis' lipid drugs, ISIS-APOCIIIRx, ISIS-APO(a)Rx, ISIS-ANGPTL3Rx,and their more potent LICA follow-ons.
In this position, Soteropoulos will utilise her expertise in commercialising drugs for severe, rare and cardiovascular diseases in global markets to advance Isis' novel lipid franchise through development and commercialisation. Soteropoulos will also serve as a member of Isis' leadership team, in which she will provide valuable commercial expertise to Isis' research and development activities.
"I have previously worked with and have respected Paula for many years and look forward to her contributions to our team, especially as we take this next step in the evolution of our business strategy. Her expertise and knowledge of the severe and rare/cardiovascular space coupled with her business development and global marketing background is ideally suited for leading Akcea," said B. Lynne Parshall, chief operating officer at Isis Pharmaceuticals. "The formation of Akcea Therapeutics comes at a strategically important point in time for Isis. This new subsidiary will support greater control of our drug programs and provide for the retention of more revenues from these programs. It also ensures that Isis' core focus remains on innovation as we continue to advance our technology and our pipeline."
"Leading Akcea Therapeutics will allow me to bring together many of my passions, developing and marketing important new medicines that could change the lives of patients worldwide, working within the severe, rare and cardiovascular space, an area that I know very well, and leading a new, ready-for-success company that has a pipeline rich in new products. I also get to work with the high-caliber development teams at Isis that I worked with during my tenure at Genzyme," said Paula Soteropoulos, president and chief executive officer at Akcea Therapeutics.
Prior to joining Akcea Therapeutics, Soteropoulos held a number of leadership positions in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical arena. Most recently Soteropoulos was senior vice president and general manager cardiometabolic, rare diseases and strategic alliances at Moderna Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to Moderna,. Soteropoulos spent 21 years at Genzyme Corporation where she was instrumental in advancing new products from discovery through clinical development and commercialisation with significant roles driving strategy, sales and marketing and business development. Additionally, Paula led manufacturing process development, strategic capacity planning and supply chain development. In her most recent role at Genzyme as vice president and general manager of Genzyme Cardiovascular division, Soteropoulos was responsible for moving Genzyme's oral cholesterol drug to profitability and spearheading the global launch of KYNAMRO. Soteropoulos has a master of science degree in chemical and biochemical engineering and a bachelors in science degree in chemical engineering from Tufts University.